I’ve reported on many earlier initiatives at:
Scotland moves closer to the Arctic Circle
Scottish Government pushes on past 200 initiatives to counter Tory Brexit damage
Now:
‘External Affairs Secretary Fiona Hyslop will reaffirm Scotland’s commitment to growing links between Scotland and the Arctic at a global conference in Iceland. The Cabinet Secretary is sharing a platform with senior representatives of governments, business and academia from around the world at the latest Arctic Circle Assembly in Reykjavik. During her speech Ms Hyslop will discuss progress that has been made on the Scottish Government’s Arctic Strategy, and the themes already developing where Scotland has a distinct contribution to make. These include climate change and the environment; the geopolitical relationship of Scotland to the region; academic and research collaboration; economic opportunities; and the links between remote communities in Scotland and those in the high north.’
Full report at:
https://news.gov.scot/news/2018-arctic-circle-assembly
You have to wonder how the SNP maintain their lead over the others. Mind you, you also have to wonder why its not even bigger. Could BBC Scotland News be a factor?
Talking-up Scotland 
I was having a blether with a friend last week. The friend used to work for News and Current Affairs at both BBC and STV. This person was of the view that they and the BBC in particular were failing in the basic journalistic duty of presenting the current Scotland to the viewers and listeners. For example, for several years support for independence has close to 50%, but the coverage of current affairs does not represent this. 95% of young people attend local authority schools, but their experiences and the issues related to these are presented mainly in adverse terms. The fishing industry is reported as what Bertie Anderson and his clique of big business fishing interests say, with scant mention of the other fishing interests in Scotland.
Last night was the premiere of the Netflix film about Robert the Bruce. BBC Scotland has been presenting him as ‘legendary’, as if there was something mythical or ‘folk tale’ or imaginary. This man was the King of Scots. We do not hear of Edward I or Richard I or Henry VIII of England having ‘legendary’ attached to their names. The discussion has been a mix of amused comparison with Braveheart or how well the American actors have managed with their Scots accents. Of course there is no discussion of the significance of Bruce in the history of Scotland as an independent country.
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Thought-provoking comments as always.
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BBC News is the single biggest factor as to why independence support is not 70%. The other 30% can’t be swayed no matter what. Keep hitting the BBC like you do.
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https://thisisit.scot/
I hope this will make some headway into informing the public of crucial news and announcements once they are up and running , they say they will put media and messaging on the front foot employing people to do it . If they make a good enough job of it maybe goodbye BBC , fund sitting at around £44,000 , they need £150,000 for all they need to do .
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I was hoping that their agenda would include TV adverts for Independence. For me it’s the best way to get the message out since we are unable to have our own channel. It worked for the SNP ad What have SNP ever done for me? IScott Magazine are planning TV adds in October after their crowd fund so looking forward to seeing them.
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Yes TV adverts would get to the older voter.
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I’ve for some time considered that the BBC is the biggest enemy we face in our struggle for Independence. Its constant drip-drip of negative reporting on Scotland cannot fail to have a major effect on the electorate. Even when the reporting is not blatantly out of balance, the insidious negativity that goes on day after day is surely a great danger. I think the Yes-movement has to try and formulate some way of opposing this. I don’t know what that is – how do we get the sort of penetration into households that the BBC has all the time? I do wonder, though,if the Scottish government couldn’t do more, officially, to address the appalling lack of balance. The incisive analysis of the media that you, John, and Stuart over at Wings, do is brilliant (though it must be disheartening for you to wade through a lot of this stuff), but how is that to be communicated more widely? The BBC has always been the voice of the British Establishment – it’s hard to see their agenda changing, especially if the State authorities fear that the break-up could really happen. They work so hard to persuade us (and themselves) that Britain is still a Big Player on the world stage, such a break-up would have massive consequences for their status.
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Thanks, encouraging comments keep my heart going.
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I’ve thought for a while now about how we get the positive message across to the public and I think billboards are the way to go. The huge ones on walls, at bus stops and in train stations. People of all walks of life would see them. Something like the Indy Poster Boy style which are to the point would be great.
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Difficult to get permission I think.
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Permission from Indy Poster Boy? Would he be against the idea?
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Permission from local authorities to put them up?
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You don’t need permission from the local authorities. You pay the advertising company e.g. Clear Channel or JCDecaux and they paste the sheets to the billboard.
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Thanks, John, for bringing attention to the on-going Arctic Circle Assembly and well done the SNP Government for its foresight in participating actively in this event.
The programme for the Assembly is huge and the list of active contributors shows the interest of many (some unlikely) countries in Arctic development. There is a large involvement from the USA and Canada, some big hitters from Russia, but what stands out is the very strong interest being shown by China. Other than the input from Scotland it is difficult to find any evidence of interest from the rest of the UK.
Another remarkable feature of the programme is the range of scientific input from Iceland itself – away beyond what I might have expected from a country of only 300-odd thousands of population.
There is a final irony right at the end of the program, a post event affair celebrating the start of work by the China-Iceland Arctic Science Observatory up in the very north of Iceland. Maybe it’s just my mind being mischievous, but I had a wee smile at the acronym for this body. It is “CIAO”.
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…baby!
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A wee point: that arctic circle line is way too far north on that map. It more or less skims the north of iceland and crosses Norway well south of Lofoten.
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Global warming? 🙂
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Clearly the Global Warming effects have fried Fluffy Mundell’s remaining handful of neuronal material. Back in 2014 in full Better Together mode the then Scotland Office Minister Mundell was quoted by Severin Carrell in the Guardian (so it must be true) that “.. only a very small proportion ” of other EU member states’ catches came from Scottish fishing waters (see link and snippet below):
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/apr/28/alex-salmond-fisheries-eu-scotland
Alex Salmond’s fisheries threat to EU alarms industry
Salmond claimed 12 countries could be barred from Scottish waters if an independent Scotland was refused EU membership
Severin Carrell, Scotland correspondent
Mon 28 Apr 2014 19.14 BST
Mundell said “… The truth is, only a very small proportion of other member states’ catches are taken from Scottish waters..”
Now, 4 years on in 2018, Fluffy is identifying the operations of other EU member states’ fishing fleets in Scottish fishing waters of such import that he is suggesting that ending EU access to the Scottish Fisheries at the earliest possible date is “..essential..”. (reported on the beeb – so it must be true) – link and snippet below:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-45913511
Theresa May has said the Brexit transition period could be extended “for a few months” if needed.
But Mr Mundell has told the BBC he wants assurances any extension to the transition would not delay exit from CFP beyond the agreed date.
He said that leaving the CFP in December 2020 is “essential”.
Mr Mundell said that he wanted to make sure the arrangement was at the centre of thinking as EU deal negotiations reach a conclusion.
He said: “Leaving the CFP is an essential part of leaving the EU. Many people here in Scotland voted to leave the EU because they wanted to leave the CFP.
Somehow Fluffy something doesn’t seem to add up – Now – I wonder what that might be?
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